Colours and Emotions
by Eira Lloyd
Summary: AU, based on Greg Austin playing "Will You Press the Button?". Charlie is mute and has a horrible handwriting (which very few people can read). His skin turns different colours depending on his emotions and that's (mainly) how he communicates.


**A/N: After everything they've been through in the show, these two deserve some cute, happy moments together. I got this idea watching Greg Austin play "Will You Press the Button?" on his Youtube channel and this idea came up (he didn't press it, but I still thought it would be fun to see what it would be like if Charlie were that way). Hope you like it, and thank you for reading!**

Colours and Emotions

Everyone has their own personal, different way to communicate, and Charlie Smith is no exception to the rule. And yet, his way to communicate definitely sets him apart from his peers. Where others talk, write, or even sign, Charlie does neither. He's mute, so he can't speak, and he never learnt sign language, so he can't communicate that way either. Back on his planet, he used to communicate with others through telepathy, but he can't do that with humans. And writing? His letters look more like scribbles than anything, and very few people can understand it. They always squint, try reading upside down, or treat it like a code they have to break, but in the end, most, if not all, give up, and settle for his other way.

Charlie has never known what privacy is like, though that's normal when your skin changes colour according to the strongest emotion you're feeling at the moment. In Rhodia, he had no privacy at all, especially since he used to communicate with others telepathically. But on Earth, he has no need for such method, unless he speaks with Quill, so he finally has some sort of privacy, in what are his mind and thoughts. His emotions, however, are all out there for others to see.

Most people avoid him. At first, they gave him strange looks, and dared not approach him, except for a select few — namely April and Tanya. But now that the small group of five — or maybe six — has been formed, he's made some new friends. It's a small, unlikely group but they are friends nonetheless.

And he also has Matteusz.

That boy deserves a medal.

Not only did he take it all in with surprising calm and acceptance — all being the fact that Charlie's an alien, sole survivor of a brutal genocide (along with Quill), and who also happens to have another species trying to kill him (Quill too) — and, even more, he's _stayed_. That has deteriorated Matteusz's relationship with his parents, and put him in mortal danger far too many times for Charlie's liking. And he still stays. The Rhodian can't believe how lucky he is to have found someone like Matteusz, especially after everything he's been through. After everything he's lost.

Those thoughts lead to nowhere good, and as he lies on his bed, Charlie gets lost in his thoughts, remembering Rhodia, and their large trees with red leaves, and the palace he used to live in. Such a place of knowledge, of learning, that wasn't quite like Coal Hill. No, that school is nothing like his home planet, the aura is definitely not the same. And as Charlie remembers his planet and its every detail, his skin turns a light azure, leaving his nostalgia and melancholy exposed to anyone who were to enter the room.

Thankfully, Quill doesn't bother him when he's up there, unless the world is ending. He can have a small semblance of privacy in his bedroom, so he allows himself to remember it all in that quiet afternoon. And as the memories become more and more recent, grief comes back, like a tidal wave, and he suddenly feels like he's drowning. His skin, before a pale azure, quickly darkens to a midnight blue, and Charlie curls up on himself, as if that can protect him from his emotions.

The sound of a door closing — his bedroom door, to be exact — makes him go a bright lime colour (surprise), before he hears a very familiar and comforting voice coming from down the steps. "Charlie?" Matteusz asks, and Charlie sits up on the bed. The other boy's mere presence is calming, and the alien's skin changes once more, to a light sky blue. The Pole goes up the stairs in the room, to the higher platform, where Charlie's bed is, and sits down on the bed next to him. He looks normal on the outside, but if Charlie's skin betrays his emotions, then Matteusz's eyes betray his. And he's worried.

After moving in with his boyfriend, Matteusz has started to learn what Charlie's various skin colours mean, and what emotion they represent. And even though he knows that the blond is currently feeling calm and relaxed, he also suspects that he wasn't feeling that way before he arrived. There's no point in mentioning it, or at least no directly, but Matteusz wouldn't be himself if he didn't try to get an answer out of his boyfriend.

"How are you?" he asks, and Charlie leans against him, burying his head in his boyfriend's shoulder. He's done that enough times now that Matteusz immediately knows what he means: _Better, now that you're here_. He can't help the small, fond chuckle that escapes him as he wraps his arms around the blond, pulling him into a hug, and kissing the top of his head. He ends up pulling them both back, and they end up lying on Charlie's bed — on _their_ bed.

At first they do nothing. They stay there, Charlie seeking comfort in his boyfriend's arms, and Matteusz holding him and stroking his hair. Time passes, slowly or quickly, and neither of them are aware of it. And then finally, Charlie looks up at him, and something changes. It starts with his chest. The calm sky blue is slowly replaced by a bright red violet. It then slowly moves to the rest of his body — his arms, his legs, his neck and, finally, his face.

Matteusz notices the progressive change — something he's never seen before — and he stops stroking his boyfriend's hair, slightly confused. "Charlie?" he asks. He's never seen this colour before, and doesn't know what emotion it represents. The boy in question suddenly becomes nervous — it's obvious in the way the blond plays with Matteusz's shirt, and how he holds his breath. But whatever emotion he's feeling right now is definitely stronger than his nerves, because his skin colour remains that bright red violet, which only leaves Matteusz more confused, because what emotion could possibly make him feel that nervous, and make him adopt that skin tone in such a strange manner?

Oh.

 _Oh._

"Charlie?" Matteusz asks tentatively, suddenly nervous himself. What if his interpretation is wrong? His heart starts beating faster and faster, except he doesn't know if it's his own heart or Charlie's, because they're so close their heartbeats are easily confused, and Matteusz is getting more and more nervous because what if he's wrong? What if he's simply projecting? What if—? "Charlie, do you…?" he trails off. The blond looks at him expectantly, and Matteusz takes a deep breath — he needs to finish his question. "Do you love me?"

Charlie's still fiddling with his boyfriend's shirt as he answers with a slow, hesitant nod. He's afraid of Matteusz's reaction, which is ridiculous. After all, he himself has told the Rhodian he loves him — the night his parents threw him out of the house, and he sought comfort in Charlie. But the blond can't help the fear he feels, which is a lot less stronger than the love he feels for his boyfriend, and that's why his skin doesn't show it.

Matteusz stares at him for a moment, as if he were trying to process the answer, and before Charlie can do anything, he cups the blond's cheeks and kisses him.

Charlie's felt like this before, of course. He loved his parents, he loved his people. But he's never felt it this strongly. He's never loved anyone the way he loves Matteusz. He loves everything about him — his laugh, his accent, the way he looks at the blond, the way he knows exactly what to do or say when Charlie is feeling down, the way he always finds him when he needs to, the way he just knows, understands, and _accepts_ Charlie, despite the fact that he's literally an alien from another planet, who can't even communicate like others can.

Charlie loves him.

And so he kisses back, pouring all his love into the kiss. He might not be able to say it, but there are other ways to communicate, other ways to show Matteusz how much he means to Charlie. And that's something they don't need words for.


End file.
